Religious Autonomy and Labour Law: A Comparison of the Jurisprudence of the United States and the European Court of Human Rights

Abstract

This article examines the way in which the legal systems in two jurisdictions resolve the tension between the protection of the religious autonomy rights of religious employers and the labour law rights of their employees. In the United States, both the courts and the legislatures have been grappling with the issues raised by religious employment for many years. The European Court of Human Rights, by contrast, has only recently begun to see cases arising in this context, but it is now faced with the need to develop case law in this area very quickly in response to a growing number of cases. The complexity of the competing rights arguments has led each jurisdiction to some solutions that are not optimal and each could learn from the other in working towards more nuanced methods for resolving these legal disputes.